and denis allex still remains safe and far from the battle. at the moment this is still being treated as an unfortunate tragedy here in france but it has the potential to become serious. french hostages are also being held in mali by al qaeda in the area. the botched mission together with the situation in mali makes their future look very bleak indade -- indeed. >> the french president spoke about the hoft situation about

an hour ago. >> i have taken some days ago an action intend to carry out an action to free one of our agents held for more than three and a half years in terrible conditions. this operation was not successful in spite of the sacrifice of two of our soldiers and no doubt the assassination of our hostage. >> let's get the latest live from the capital. originally, rory, the french government was saying it wasn't going to put troops in. what changed things? >> well, lauren, you are right. as recently as i think two months ago, in october and november of 2012 francois hollande was saying yes, he could consider sending troops into mali but they would be just for training and

logistics. but the request mali put out this week specifically to france for military assistance really changed things and also the speed at which things were moving on the ground. france couldn't wait for the ecowas force to get fully operational. there was an announcement friday that that ecowas force would be deployed quicker but when france made the decision to be send troops in they didn't know ecowas was going to speed up the deployment and really mali's government was crumbling. the army was retreating so far and france considered this such an important issue for not just regional stability and security that it decided it had to get involved. >> in the meantime, reaction

from the islamists in the area warning that french interests would be put at risk by the actions in mali, that's been taken quite seriously by the french government? >> yes, it has. there are four french hougs in -- hostages in mali and more in the region and france confidently feels that their security is going to be threatened. it also feels, france does, that its security at home is going to be threatened, so hollande did say that he had asked his prime minister to put in place heightened security arrangements both in the capital, pay, and throughout the country. so it seems like france is expecting or at least anticipating that there might be some attempt at bringing the fight that france is taking to other countries, mali and somalia, back to its own country within france itself

and it's making preparations to try and ensure that that doesn't hamilton >> and, rory, is french public opinion on the side of these type of operations, whether it be somali or mali? >> well, french public opinion is quite difficult to gauge at the moment because things are moving so fast that the public hasn't really had the chance to express -- express what it thinks about it. the parliament hasn't even hp a chance to discuss what's going on in mali. they will have a chance to do so monday. president hollande has said he thought the mainstream parties here, his sense of what they're doing, he said there is a broad consensus for what france is doing with its military in mali but i think the opinions of the french population in general will develop and will actually see what we think about it as this conflict progresses and if

french soldiers start dying in any serious numbers, obviously that will turn public opinion against if -- it. also if france is embroiled in any human rights outrages, that would turn french public opinion against it. >> rory, thanks very much indeed for that live update from paris. the u.n. security council has welcomed a peace deal signed by the central african republic and rebels. new elections are lpted to be held been -- within 12 months and a member of the opposition will become prime minister. andre simmons has been following the developments in the capital. >> like all main decisions in this poverty stricken country, the announcement came on the radio. the president issued a dedegree -- decree dissolving his

government. the prime minister has aren't -- resigned and he'll be replaced by someone from the opposition. talks are going on now. but all this is a good sign they're stirking to at agreement. >> hundreds of thousands of course shi'ia protectors are holding individualim a second night following the actions in quetta. many are refusing to bury victims of the attack and are demanding greater protection from the government. >> china's capital beijing is tchoking on some of the worst air pollution levels ever reported. the government has advised people to stay indoors, especially children, the elderly and people with ress pyreatory problems. -- respiratory problems. still to come, life on the turkish-syrian bempltd and how

a naw adoption law could prevent these children from finding new families. ? legal -- hello and welcome to this look at world weather. ing we'll start in the americas. this frontal center is setting up heavy rain across brazil and parts of peru. to the south, for much of paraguay and uruguay and argentina it's looking dry and fine with highs of 31 degrees in buenos aires. in the caribbean, there is always a chance of a shower here but for the most part

bright and breezy. central america, one or two showers around, but otherwise looking largely dry and fine. 23 degrees your high in mexico city. in north america, a ral battle royal between the fronts. more extensive snee cross the great lakes and extending into parts of canada. ahead of it, quite cold air. disappointing tems of -- in san francisco, highs of 11 degrees celsius. >> now the headlines from al-jazeera. the french. has ordered increased security

across france following military operations in both somalia and mali. and a french hostage. has reportedly been killed during a failed rescue attempt in somalia. shi'ia demonstrators have rallied in a show of support for prime minister al malachi and his government. for weeks the government has been the target of angry protests in sunni provinces while prostors say the shi'ia-led government discriminates against them. opposition activists in the syrian capital a air attacks have resumed after stormy weather prevented them for a week. jets and helicopters fired miss aisles and p dropped bombs on a tony -- line of towns eastd of damascus where rebels have

pushed out troops loyal to president assad. to the north, around 00 men, -- 100 men, women, and children had paid smugglers to take them across be the border to turkey but were deported. this from one of the largest refugee camps. >> this is one of the largest refugee camps in turkey. a container city along the border with syria. the cubicles are equipped with running water, heaters and air conditioning. the 13,000 refugees living here don't have to worry about the cold or floods. but for most, it's still a long way from the comforts of home. >> we can't wait to go back home. but, look, we have been abandoned. we thought it was going to be a matter of three months. the world is against us much

the arab world, the west, the arab league, they have all left us on our own. >> this man and his family may be luckier than those trapped inside syria or the thousands of refugees facing tougher conditions in jordan and lebanon, but any time they watch the news, they are distressed. >> the scenes of the refugees facing cold are heartbreaking. these are children. i cannot find words to describe their suffering. we have everything but the others have nothing the >> these refugees are mainly from latakia and two other areas. all hoping to see an end to the war. >> we thought our fight was

against assad. we find ourselves fighting the world. we don't want their aid. we want to go home. >> but for the time being, they have no other choice but to stay in this camp and pray for peace. conditions here are far better compared with other refugee camps not only internationally but in the whole region rvingts but for thousands of syrians here, they've lost everything. their homes and villages were destroyed, which means that even when violence is over, they may have to stay here for a longer period of time the >> israel is preparing to remove palestinian pro pecttors by force from a tent city in the left bank. in the meantime it's shut off roads leading to the wind swept

area of course east jerusalem in the area known as e-1. they had said they wanted to establish on the ground. >> and temperatures are so high in australia that they have melted roads. it has made conditions difficult for the fire fighters battling blazes there. this prort -- report from south of sydney. >> it's been the week large parts of australia burned. from southern tasmania to north of brisbane there have been hundreds of fires drinken by winds that even by australian standards have been extremely hot. these are some of the

firefighters fighting them. this one is of thousands of volunteer firefighters pulled away from normal life. >> usually working in the kitchen. get pulled out of this and i'm fighting these blazes. >> in this area ats -- it's all about containment. so large and inaccessible is the area, the firefighters don't even attempt to put it out but rather they define the line beyond which they will not let it pass. back-burning, deliberately lighting a fire toward the fire. right now the fire front is in a gully about two kilometers that way. the aim is to let it get here but no further. that might sound

straightforward enough except this perimeter is 94 kilometers long the further along is shane bullock the his work is on passenger planes. >> i'm from qantas airlines. just flown in from germany, got back wednesday and got called out wednesday night at k and been on the go ever since. >> there are electricians out here too, and horticulturalists. one m.p. who called his involvement a staunt had to apologize. in australia, volunteer >> firefighters are beyond reproach. in this area south of sydney it's all about containment. frip the fire stayed contained. it was compare atiskly cool. the weekend, though, will see temperatures and the winds pick up. the hope is that the volunteers

have done enough. >> greece's parliament has approved a new tax bim aimed at raising more money and stamping out tax evasion. the bill introduces a new annual income threshed -- threshold for salaried worker. >> what is really controversial about this bill is it is attempting to raise $3 billion of new revenues. about half will be raised from pensioners. during the year the government is also going to be cutting billions from cutting. that means greet will be receiving less from the central government and giving it more to achieve this year's fiscal adjustment of $15 billion.

this also is happening during a year when the ne -- economy is going to recede further by 4.5% and unemployment is already 36% and a third of greeks are at risk of poffertive and social exclusion, so it is already a very tense social and economic situation for many, many greeks. many households are currently living off the charity of organizations like doctors of the world and state charity and the church and that is expected to grow worse between now and the end of the year. even sork the government says, we have -- even so, the government says we have to stick to the plan and restore our credibility. >> in belfast, demonstrators loyal to many briltane have clashed with nagsalists -- nagsalists -- naptists pro

testimonying new curbs on flying the flag. the protests have been going fob -- on for more than five weeks. the results are in in the czech republic election. none of the nine candidates got enough votes to there will be a runoff in two weeks' time. thousands of people are expected to gathering in moscow on sunday to protest against a new law preventing americans from adopting russian children. supporters point to cases where children have been abused or even died in their care but others disagreement >> nicholas is 18 months old and suffered -- suffers from a rare skin condition. the girl has down syndrome. both have been at this center

in st. petersburg since they were a few days old and we're told they had met the people from the u.s. who were hoping to adopt them but now that's on hold because a new russian law bars americans from adopting them. >> this is a rare adoption. "i would like my nicholas to have a family because in a state institution sick babies will not survive." about half those living in the home are disabled. their chances of being adopted within russia are slim. in 2011 about a third of all russian children who found permanent families were adopted gi -- by foreigners, the majority with disabilities going to the u.s. the children here are all too young to care about whether they're placed from -- with people from the u.s. or elsewhere overseas. all they want is love and stability. the legislation was passed in december in direct response to

a new u.s. law which introduced sanctions against russian officials accused of human rights abuses. a recent poll suggested that just over half the russians backed at adoption ban, supporters saying children this be looked after within russia. they pointed to cases like the one whose adoptive american mother put him on a plane back to russia, claiming he had mental health problems. but those who work closely with the children say in the -- unless attitudes change, foreign adoption is needed. >> our government says we should try to place as many russian children with russian families as possible and that's right. but it's not just them that needs to change but the whole system. >> those that work here try to get their children the best possible start.

for many of the carers, that also means